United States Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Appeal Regarding Westboro Baptist Church Protests At Military Funeral, Sean Haynes Comes Out, Microsoft Bing Censors Gay

The United States Supreme Court Monday announced it has agreed to hear an appeal from Albert Snyder, the father of a Marine killed in Iraq in 2006, and whose funeral at St. John’s Catholic Church in Maryland was picketed by Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church. The family sued the WBC, and won, awarded 5 million dollars in damages by a United States district court for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress. An appeals court, however, overturned the award, citing a violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech. At issue is a battle between the right to privacy and the right to free expression. The court will begin hearing arguments and will make a decision in October.

Sean Haynes has come out. Haynes, about to make his Broadway debut in a revival of Promises, Promises alongside Kristen Chenoweth, tells the Advocate that he is fact gay and that he never, ever, made any attempt to hide that. However, according to Haynes, the same magazine, that published an article in anticipation of the series finale of Will and Grace titled Sean Haynes: The Interview He Never Gave, taking a series of random quotes he gave to other publications, mocking Haynes for being closeted, and for not coming out, thereby, presumably, stalling an advancing of the gay movement, angered and hurt him so greatly that today he is still upset.” I believe that nobody owes anything to anybody. You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don’t know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life? I feel like I’ve contributed monumentally to the success of the gay movement in America, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to it. You welcome, Advocate.” The interview, that quiet quietly mentions Haynes has a partner, is sort of sad to read – more as a comment on celebrity and on a culture that cultivates demands that no one has the right to be private.

Microsoft’s search engine Bing is editing out the gay, blocking gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender inquiries in all Arab countries, that according to Open Net Initiative. The organization, whose mandate is to document internet censorship and surveillance, carried out in-country tests in January and found that the words “gay,” “lesbian,” and “homosexuality” were filtered, offering users a message that their country or region “requires a strict Bing SafeSearch setting, which filters out results that might return adult content.” The blocking contradicts Microsoft’s commitment to eradicating censorship, and to protecting the right to free expression.